


A Christmas Together

by willowsandwonders



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Sburb Session, Fluff, Gen, all the friendship fluff!, awkward teens and heartfelt first meetings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:33:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21952261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/willowsandwonders/pseuds/willowsandwonders
Summary: John's dad is acting reallyyy suspicious right before the holidays. John's on the lookout for what is surely going to be a dastardly Christmas scheme. But the buildup to his dad's most epic prank of all time turns out be something even better--his three best friends at his house for a surprise visit! It's kind of one of the best things that's ever happened to him.Or, the beta kids all get to meet in person for the first time and spend Christmas together!
Relationships: John Egbert & Jade Harley & Rose Lalonde & Dave Strider
Comments: 2
Kudos: 27





	A Christmas Together

**Author's Note:**

> First and foremost, this is a Christmas gift for my best friend! I hope you like it as much as I enjoyed writing it <> !  
> I hope everyone else enjoys this story too, happy reading!

Your name is John Egbert, you’re sixteen years old, and you’re pretty sure your dad is about to prank the ever-loving shit out of you. He’s just...being weird! Going to the store more often than normal but not letting you see what he bought, baking more cakes than you’ve seen him make in years, even a pie at one point! He’s definitely hiding something. 

And sure, maybe  _ you’re  _ usually the one who pranks  _ him.  _ And maybe he’s never actually retaliated to your shenanigans with a prank of his own. Usually he just laughs. Or grounds you. If it’s as bad as the Accidentally Started a Kitchen Fire by Covering the Inside of the Stove with Photos of Nick Cage incident back when you were fourteen, you might get a Talking To ™.

But it’s only four days away from Christmas--that would be the perfect time to strike! And you’re gonna be  _ ready  _ when he does. 

He’s out of the house right now, probably buying more supplies for his dastardly schemes. Your dad has had  _ years  _ to watch the pranking master (you) at work. He’s not going to do anything cliche--no buckets propped up on top of the door or packs of gum that shock you when you try to take a piece. No, he’s going to do something  _ crazy,  _ and you’re equal parts nervous and bouncing out of your seat with excitement. You’re sure your dad is gonna do something  _ really cool!  _

You think you hear a knock on the door. You slide off your headphones and cock your head and, oh! There it is again. 

You lean back in your desk chair to look out your window. Your dad’s car is in the driveway, but you definitely didn’t hear him come inside? This is all extremely suspicious. But you can’t let him see you sweat! You’ll answer the door for him like the excellent son you are. Maybe he just needs help carrying in the groceries. And he’s probably still gearing up for the main prank event in a few days, but you’ll be cautious just in case. 

There’s no booby trap waiting for you in front of your bedroom door, or anything weird on the stairs as you creep down them. You’ve already checked the house twice-over since he left, but you can never be too careful. 

You do one last check around the doorknob, looking for any strings tied around it, or any other meddling. It’s clean, but you can hear more than one voice mumbling on the other side of the door. This is very, very weird, and you’re starting to--

When you pull the door open, your three best friends since you were ten are standing in an awkward huddle on the doormat, your dad giving you a thumb’s up from behind them. 

Wow. 

Wow wow  _ wow! _

Jade launches herself at you with the force of a bullet, almost knocking you to the ground as she flings her arms around your shoulders. You rock back against her momentum, arms flying up to grab her shoulders and steady yourself. Then you pull her into a proper hug, mind still racing around trying to prove to yourself that this is  _ actually  _ happening. You’re already smiling so hard your cheeks hurt. Jade laughs and squeezes you tighter, and then suddenly, you’re laughing too. 

“Don’t choke him to death before it’s our turn,” you hear someone say, and oh! That’s Dave, his voice coming from a few feet away from you instead of through a shitty headset. Holy shit! 

Jade lets you go, still grinning ear to ear and standing close to your side, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet with excitement. Dave steps forward, offering his hand for a fist bump. You oblige the fist bump in the name of bro culture, then roll your eyes and drag him into a hug. He goes stiff as a board when you wrap your arms around his shoulders. You laugh again, grabbing fistfuls of his hoodie and rocking him back and forth. He’s  _ here!  _ Years of just seeing him in grainy skype calls and “2 cool” selfies and now he’s here! In your house! 

Dave manages to wriggle away from you as Rose steps forward, clearing her throat. Nothing could tamp down your grin right now, but it gets even wider as you finally get confirmation for something you’ve suspected for years--the Strilondes are  _ really  _ bad at heartfelt reunions. Is it a reunion if you’ve never met in person before? Whatever, your friends’ awkwardness is kind of really endearing, just like Jade’s enthusiasm is.

Rose handles the hug a bit better than Dave, though her hand patting your back feels kind of mechanical. You don’t care at  _ all  _ though, because you’re giving Rose a hug! This is all really happening!

Your chest feels really light and warm and your heart is beating really fast and you’re probably gonna die. But it’s gonna be of happiness, so it’s fine!

You turn around to see your dad smiling at your sappy disaster of a friend group. You grin wide back at him. Man, he  _ really  _ got you good with this one. 

\---

The first hiccup in your uninterrupted stream of overwhelming happiness comes when you see Rose pull some wrapped packages from her suitcase and place them underneath the Christmas tree. Oh god, Christmas presents! You already mailed everyone’s--late, too, so now everybody’s gonna have gifts for you and you’re gonna be the massive tool who doesn’t have anything to give them back. Maybe you can just fiddle with some crap in your room and make it into some half-decent presents? They’d never let you live that down, though, especially if they got you actual nice presents.

Your dad must notice your distress, because he gives you a Look and steps out of the room. Oh god, is he disappointed? He’s so good at that dad look that makes you feel like an ant under a magnifying glass, being fried by the hot sun of fatherly disapproval. Sure, you had absolutely no idea any of them were coming, but you mailed their presents so late in general, and Jade’s probably isn’t even going to get to her island until after New Year’s--

Your dad walks back in, your shoddily wrapped presents for Rose, Dave, and Jade all under his arm. You go slack-jawed.

“I held on to your presents so you could give them to everyone in person,” he explains, setting them down beneath the tree casual as can be. 

“I went with you to the post office!” You point an accusatory finger at him. “I saw them bring the packages to the back!” 

“I have friends at the post office.” 

_ “Friends at the--” _ you sputter. Rose seems to be fighting a smile. Jade is actively laughing at you, though she’s at least trying to cover it with her hand. 

“Friends that let you steal back the mail?!” you continue, incredulous. You cannot believe how advanced a trickster he is. All these years he’s been holding out on you!

“Is it really so strange?” He’s trying not to laugh now, you can hear it in his voice. 

“Yes!” you cry. You feel like you’re going crazy. 

“Owned,” Dave mutters under his breath, and you take great satisfaction in finally being able to elbow him in the ribs. 

\---

You spend most of the day just hanging out, trying to wrap your brain around the fact that all of your friends are  _ here!  _ Rose tries to explain the logistics to you and it honestly sounds like a bit of a nightmare. Her mom and Dave’s bro are gonna spend Christmas together--apparently they’re friends? And Jade’s grandpa is gonna stay on the island and watch Bec because Jade’s dog would have probably caused an international incident if they tried to put him on a plane. That was the easy part. 

The careful planning to get three of them flying in from different time zones to all land within a couple of hours of each other sounds like the real nightmare. Rose tries to explain the math of how Jade “gained” time on the flight while she and Dave “lost” time, and how she knitted half a scarf because she got to the airport ahead of everyone else, and all kinds of confusing things about hours and jet lag. Time has never really been your thing. 

It doesn’t help that you keep interrupting her explanation to babble excitedly, because holy shit, she’s not typing this all out for you on Pesterchum, she’s here and in front of you saying it all! She’s sitting on your couch!

Rose says they’ll be in town all through Christmas and go home a couple days after. If you get any more excited, your dad is gonna have to sedate you. As it is, you can hardly sit still, looking around at everyone like they’re the most exciting things you’ve ever seen. Which they kind of are! 

You know you can’t be the only one freaking out. Jade seems to be as excited and restless as you, if not more so, bouncing a bit in her seat every now and then and restlessly playing with the ends of her hair, hanging on Rose’s every word. This must be pretty crazy for her. You know she doesn’t exactly get out much. Has she ever even left her island before? 

Rose looks like she’s trying to act aloof, but she pauses whenever she accidentally makes eye contact with one of you, the corners of her mouth tugging up into a smile you’re not sure she notices. She gets out her knitting needles after a little bit, continuing what looks like a long, striped scarf. But she doesn’t look down at her project that often, mostly just looks around the room at all of you and drinks it all in. 

Next to you, Dave is trying so hard to be chill that it’s actually starting to stress you out. He’s gone completely boneless against your couch and he’s pretending to fiddle with his phone, but you can see that he’s just typing  **aaaaa** in a blank Pesterchum window. You smile and look away before he notices you staring, knocking your knee against his before turning back to listen to a story Jade’s telling about how she found out you apparently can’t bring weapons with you to the airport.

\---

Everybody’s pretty tired after a long day of traveling, so things wrap up pretty early. Your dad apparently got the guest room ready in secret (another deception--he told you it was too cluttered with shaving cream to go in!) but everyone unanimously refuses to stay in there. Your dad seems disappointed but not altogether surprised, and hands you a few extra blankets and pillows to use in your room instead. Your brain shorts out for half a second before you thank him and take them, because wow, this is gonna be your first ever sleepover! 

Jade calls immediate dibs on half the bed, and after she’s been on a plane for the better part of a day, none of you even try to fight her on it. She’s already under the covers and half asleep before you can blink. You try to be chivalrous and give Rose the other half of the bed, but instead she calmly unrolls a bright purple sleeping bag that she somehow squeezed into her suitcase and plucks one of the extra pillows from the pile. 

Dave loses to you in a best out of five Rock Paper Scissors match, which means the other half of the bed is yours. You leave Dave to wrestle the spare pile of blankets into a comfortable floor nest and click on your desk lamp before turning the overhead light off. 

You’re just settling in, taking off your glasses and getting underneath the blankets when you hear Dave say, “Man, fuck the floor,” and suddenly a reddish whiteish blur is flopping down at the end of the bed. You pull your legs up the bed a bit so he doesn’t crush you to death, and squint down at the Dave-shaped log that’s now curled up on the end of your bed like a cat. Jade grumbles something unintelligible that was probably swearing and makes room for him too. 

It’s not the most comfortable, but you go to bed with your chest feeling warmer and lighter than it has in a long, long time.

\---

_ Three days until Christmas _

“You’ve seriously never had Krispy Kreme before?” You ask Jade in the middle of your squabble about breakfast. It started when Rose asked what cereal you had, which sparked an argument about the best kind of cereal, and then evolved into a “do you pour the milk before or after the cereal” debate. Then your dad said they could just go to the store and pick up a little something for everybody to eat. And then Dave said he’d rather die than spend one more second in the “ass-blisteringly cold Washington wilderness.” And then you said “everyone shut up let’s just go get doughnuts,” but nicer than that, and--

And now this. 

“I’m pretty sure I’ve never even had a doughnut!” Jade says cheerily, not looking away from the snow falling outside the window. It’s been coming down hard for a couple hours, and she is completely fascinated by it. Dave, on the other hand, is inside of a warm house and buried in a hoodie and  _ still  _ looks miserable. Rose seems to be very entertained watching them both. 

“We have to fix this immediately,” you say with grave sincerity, and then swing around to give your dad the biggest, saddest puppy dog eyes you can muster. The Krispy Kreme is twenty five minutes away from here and the grocery store’s only five. Usually he tries to avoid driving any further than he has to when it’s snowing, but he’s a good driver and Jade has  _ never  _ had doughnuts! She will almost certainly die if you do not fix this immediately. 

Your dad sighs, almost inaudibly, and you know you’ve got him. He goes to get his car keys and Jade cheers. Dave groans and pulls his hood up over his head, drawing the strings tight. Rose just laughs and laughs, patting him on the back before happily telling him stories of some of the blizzards she’s seen. 

You let Jade take shotgun since she seems by far the most interested in looking out the window. Everything is new to her and it’s kind of crazy--she’s never had to wear a seat belt before because it’s not like there’s any cars on her island. And it’s just a population of two, there, three counting Bec, so every new person she sees is completely unique and interesting. 

You took one for the team and sat in the middle seat, so Dave and Rose are squished on either side of you. You’ve kind of grown a lot in the past few years and your legs are really uncomfortably folded up towards your chest so you don’t take their eyes out with your knobby knees. But these are the kinds of sacrifices you’re willing to make in the name of friendship. 

When you get to Krispy Kreme, you realize you may have given Jade a slightly elevated idea of what a doughnut is, because she grabs you by the sleeve and all but drags you inside, the same look on her face as when she video calls you right after making a groundbreaking scientific discovery. With that kind of fervor, you’re  _ really  _ hoping you’re not about to let her down. 

“Welcome to Krispy Kreme,” someone monotones from behind the counter. The store is surprisingly desolate. You assume the only other car in the lot, steadily being covered up by snow, belongs to the employee, judging by their grimace when they look out the front window at it. 

“Hi!” Jade says, letting go of your sleeve to look at all the flavors. The door chimes again as Rose, Dave, and your dad finally catch up to the two of you. The short walk from the car to the store has Dave rubbing his hands together to warm his hands back up. Rose slides her scarf off of her neck and hooks it around his, trying to tie in in place while he squawks in indignation. You roll your eyes, going back over to Jade, who’s already brimming with questions about all of the different doughnut flavors. 

You get a few plain glazed doughnuts, same order as your dad. Rose gets one stuffed with lemon creme. Dave gets an apple fritter and a raspberry filled doughnut. Jade wants to try four different flavors and none of you can say no to her. She tries a bite of each in the car, then argues with herself and with a few comments from the peanut gallery about which one is the best. 

It hasn’t even been a full twenty-four hours since the three of them knocked on your door. But god, now that they’re here you never ever want to have to say goodbye to them. 

\---

_ Two days until Christmas _

Jade still takes a couple of naps on and off to adjust to the time zone, but she seems to be pretty good despite the jet lag. You’re pretty sure you saw her sneaking over to the coffee pot after dinner, but she’s sound asleep again, curled up in the corner of the couch that’s closest to the fireplace. Rose is sitting next to her, knitting again. Then there’s you, already pushing the pretty small couch to its limit, and then Dave who has his long legs spread out across everybody so he can fit too. His spine looks like it’s crunched into a v-shape, but if it’s bothering him, he’s able to brave it well enough to keep ripping into one of your favorite movies while you pretend to be annoyed. 

You all look ridiculous, but this way you can all see the TV, which is convenient because through a bitter round of bargaining you’ve convinced everyone to watch the entire Ghostbusters franchise with you. You haven’t managed to win them over on National Treasure yet, but you still have a few days to get them there. Maybe if you bribe them with popcorn? 

Rose lets her knitting fall into her lap abruptly, and for a second you think she’s gotten truly invested in the plight of the Ghostbusters, but then you see her looking down at her hand. 

“Hm. I must’ve chipped my polish earlier.” You lean over to look, and you can see that the flawless black nail polish on her fingers is interrupted by a few missing spots on her index finger. 

You don’t think anything about it until she goes upstairs and comes back with a bottle of fresh black polish. You’re probably being really creepy watching her reapply her nail polish, but you’ve seen this movie so many times that you could quote it in your sleep. This is way more interesting right now. 

She notices you staring, probably because you’re being as subtle as a brick to the face, and smirks. 

“Would you like me to do your nails too?” You’re not quite sure if she’s joking or not, but the question makes your brain short out anyway. You shoot a quick glance down at your fingernails. Then at hers. Yours look very boring in comparison. 

You nod, and she dips the brush back into the bottle, gesturing for you to give her your hand. 

Her hand is cold when she touches you, but the nail polish is even colder, and you squirm a bit. The polish smears a bit, a little getting on your skin.

“First time?” Rose asks, and you know she knows the answer is  _ yes,  _ so you don’t bother nodding. “Just try and hold still. I’ll make sure it turns out alright.” 

The movie is completely lost to you as you watch her work. You thought people just kind of...swiped a few times with the polish like a paintbrush, and then your nails were suddenly a different color. But Rose works carefully and slowly, layering on an extra coat and even a protective layer of some clear, glossy stuff. 

By the time she’s done, the movie’s credits are rolling and your nails look nice as hell. You kind of can’t stop staring at them? 

It’s annoying that you can’t really touch anything while they dry, because Rose threatened you on pain of death that you’d better not mess them up, but fanning them out all dramatic-like is kind of fun. Even Dave takes a second to admire them when you wave them in his face. 

“I’m glad you’re enjoying them so much,” Rose says, and you turn to see her genuinely smiling at the look on your face. You kind of want to wake up Jade and show her too, but she’ll see them soon enough.

“I would have brought more polish colors with me if I’d known I’d be doing anyone’s nails but mine,” Rose continues. “I think you’d look good with a soft red or even a pink. Maybe a purple, even, if you don’t mind borrowing a bit from my own general fashion’s color scheme.”

“Those do sound nice.” You know absolutely nothing about color theory, but you trust Rose to make good choices for you on that front. She might have an awful taste in movies, but on an off day she still looks more put-together than you at your fanciest. 

“I guess we’ll just have to have another get-together, then,” Rose says. 

“If you insist,” you say, doing your best to feign complete seriousness. The facade falls apart in an instant, though, and you break into a wide, genuine grin at the thought of another hangout with this band of nerds that you get to call your best friends on earth. 

\---

_ Christmas Eve _

Your dad wants some peace and quiet to bake his half a dozen Christmas cakes for the neighbors, so the four of you spend the first half of the day playing outside in the snow. You and Rose are the only ones who actually have  _ real  _ winter clothes, and between the two of you you somewhat manage to cobble together snow-ready outfits for Dave and Jade. 

The ensuing snowball fight is apocalyptic. It’s a Christmas miracle that you don’t break your glasses before Jade learns that you’re  _ really not supposed to pack the snowballs that tight ouch.  _ At least you’re not Dave, who makes the mistake of nailing Rose in the back of the head with a vicious shot and ending up with an avalanche of snow down his shirt. 

Then there’s the snowmen, two of which are massive snow-dicks that you have to kick down before your neighbors see. The ones left standing are a slightly lopsided snow-Bec, an uncomfortably detailed eldritch horror, one with stick-glasses made to look like yours, and what might have once been a Snowbama, but looks mostly like a sad, smudged lump. 

By the end you all are very very tired and  _ very  _ cold. It takes an hour huddled by the fire in warm pajamas and a mug of your dad’s hot chocolate before you feel like a human being again. It’s starting to get dark outside by the time you and Dave go back up to your room, finally feeling you’ve thawed out. 

Rose and Jade are still downstairs by the fireplace. They kicked you out of your own living room a little while ago under the pretense of Rose helping Jade wrap some of her presents, but you’re pretty sure they just wanted more room to spread out in front of the fire. Fair game, because your room is just as warm once you get underneath some blankets. 

Dave is laying on the end of your bed again, sprawled out on his back and messing with his phone. You’re about to ask him if he wants to play a video game or something when your phone buzzes. 

**\-- turntechGodhead** **[TG]** **started pestering ectoBiologist** **[EB]** **\--**

**TG: sup**

“I’m literally sitting right here! For the first time ever!”

**TG: yeah which is convenient because that means i can see when youre ignoring my messages**

**TG: try and tell me now that you “got caught up with runescape” you lying fucker**

**EB: i was trying to get my combat to 126!**

God damnit. Now you’re doing it too. 

**TG: what if id been dying**

**TG: maxed out combat but at what cost if you couldnt save your best bro**

**TG: at my funeral you go up to give a speech**

**TG: sniffling and crying**

**TG: “its a damn shame but i had to let him go or else i never wouldve gotten my runescape combat level to 126”**

**TG: everyone in the audience nods their head**

**TG: they all understand the ancient proverb**

**TG: bros before hoes but**

**TG: mmos before even bros**

**TG: its the gamer law**

You snort despite yourself. “You’re the worst, dude. Obviously I couldn’t have saved your life with a low-level character.” 

You feel more than see him roll his eyes at you. You’re glad he likes the sunglasses you got him enough to wear them literally all the time, but they make him a bit hard to read! If you hadn’t known him for six years, and hadn’t been video-chatting him for at least three or four, this would probably be much harder. But by now you know his body language well enough to know that he’s trying to work up the courage to do or say something.

He fidgets sporadically for a few more minutes before something in his posture says “fuck it.” He mumbles something, probably an actual, verbal, “fuck it,” and suddenly he’s crawling up the bed to slouch down next to you. There’s a whole other side of the bed, but his shoulder still bumps up against yours with how close he’s sitting. He looks like he’s about to have a stroke.

You’re about to laugh and poke at him, because you really never expected him to be this clingy. But the little piece of Rose that lives in your brain and acts as your impulse control screams at you not to. You keep your fat mouth shut instead, and are rewarded a few moments later when the last of the tension in Dave’s shoulders leeches out and he goes boneless against your side. 

_ “Dnwnnagohme,”  _ Dave mumbles against your sleeve. You blink, and try to decipher literally any of that as English. You wait a minute before nudging him with your arm, trying to get him to repeat whatever that was in a language you can understand. 

“Man,” Dave sighs after a minute of silence, “is it lame if I say I don’t want this week to be over yet?”

“It’s not over, though.” You frown. “There’s still two full days before you have to leave, dude.” 

“I can’t believe you managed to drag me up here when it’s so goddamn cold,” Dave continues despite what you said, and you sense a Ramble coming on. “And I don’t know what fucking sorcery Rose forced her loaded-as-fuck mom to do to magically get us all here. Like, I don’t even think Jade is a citizen of  _ anywhere,  _ but she’s like, here? And I kept thinking the plane would crash or something and none of this would work out, but it did?”

“And I know it’s cold as fuck here,” Dave continues, making meaningless gestures with his hands towards the ceiling now that he’s gotten worked up, “but hanging out with y’all is--”

“Y’all.”

“Shut the hell up,” he grumbles, “not my fault it’s such a convenient word, saves a fuck ton of time and you come into  _ my  _ house and--”

“Uh, this is  _ my  _ house, actually--”

“I’m trying to have a fucking moment, here, Egbert.” Dave sighs melodramatically, cutting you what’s probably a really intense look behind his shades. You decide to let him have his moment. 

“I don’t wanna go home after all of this.” Shit. Actual sincerity from Dave? Right now? You blank on any kind of response, which is fine, because after a moment Dave continues on his own. 

“Like...it’s really fucking convenient being able to bother the fuck out of you guys whenever I want. Just being able to hang out with all of you, and not worry about whether my wifi’s gonna go out, or if time zones are gonna fuck us up. Feels like you’re all real people instead of really goddamn complex bots that have been trolling me for years, really fooling the fuck out of ten year old Dave who thought it’d be fun to talk to strangers online--”

“Well, at least I never had to worry about  _ you  _ being a bot. No way someone could program something that was even halfway like you.” 

“Thanks and fuck you depending on whatever the hell you meant with that.” Dave trails off, then, biting his lip.

“I just... “ He turns to look at you, and you can just see the red of his irises over the top of his shades. Man do you always forget his eyes look like that, but it’s time to be a Good and Serious friend, so you hold back any sort of comment on it. 

“I want to see Rose’s weird fucking house too, hell, even Jade’s island. And be able to bother all of you whenever I want. And do like, all the holidays with you guys. God this is so fucking sappy I’m so sorry, sap just coming outta me every which way, but...I don’t wanna go back to being all by myself after...after all of this.” 

_ God,  _ and neither do you. You swallow around the lump in your throat and tug him closer, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and squeezing him tight. Dave rolls with it, and together the two of you make quite the pathetic sight. Two losers huddled up close on your bed, already missing each other when no one’s even left yet. 

“This isn’t gonna be the only time we see each other in person,” you manage to say. “Maybe we can do a big party or something for you, Rose, and Jade’s birthday week next year? Or find somewhere to meet over the summer?” Already your head is spinning with plans. You  _ won’t  _ let this be the only time the four of you get to hang out face to face.

“We’ll find a way to make everything work,” you say, with so much confidence that you start to believe yourself, if only a little bit. “A ton of people all over are in the same boat as us. If they can make it work, so can we.” 

“We’ll make this shit  _ happen,”  _ Dave mumbles, and for once you don’t call him on the shitty reference or the slight wobble in his voice. You just tug the blankets up to cover him too, and try to drink in the feeling of him here spending time with you while it’s still happening, like you can bottle up the memory and save it for later. 

\---

_ Christmas _

Your dad makes pancakes. And waffles. And also five different cakes, but you’ll worry about trying to eat those later. All of you are still in pajamas and varying states of exhaustion. Technically you started the stupid conversation that led to all of you still talking your heads off at four in the morning, but it’s Christmas--that means no one is allowed to be mad at you about it!

Besides, you’re not tired anyway. Dave and Rose are on their second and third cups of coffee respectively, but you and Jade are both  _ ready  _ for Christmas. You’re getting a little bit nervous about how your gifts for everyone are going to stack up against theirs, but you’re still really really excited to see everyone open their presents. 

You finish breakfast in record time and shepherd everyone over to sit by the Christmas tree. 

By the shaky logic of Jade being the oldest by a slim margin and also the one who travelled the furthest, she gets to open her presents first. Rose made her a little headband with white knitted doggy ears on top, which she immediately puts on. Dave went with a similar theme--he texts her a photo that she’s quick to show everyone. It’s a cute little doodle of Jade with dog ears and a tail, next to a small, grainy doodle of Bec with human ears that you think is kind of creepy but makes Jade laugh so hard she snorts. You’re nervous when she picks up your hastily wrapped box, but she seems to love the book on physics you got her, even if you didn’t understand half the words on the cover alone. 

Dave goes next. You got him a few small bottles of some fancy apple juice you found at the store, and he takes a tiny sip and then drains an entire little bottle in a few gulps, which you’ll take as a seal of approval. Jade gets him a dead frog that’s been entirely encased in a chunk of amber and his eyebrows raise high above his shades as he inspects it, smiling. Rose solemnly hands him a stack of papers bound with binder clips like it’s the nuclear launch codes. It turns out to be a fifteen page screenplay of a life or death rap battle between Dave and Guy Fieri over who will win control of Flavertown, complete with an illustration on the cover. 

Dave doesn’t even miss a beat, whipping his phone back out and sending Rose something with a dramatic flourish of his finger. You lean over Rose’s shoulder to see an mp3 file that’s titled “rose destroys freud in the art of combat and also psychoanalysis and also rap 2.0” You’re not sure what the hell 1.0 looked like, or if you even want to know, but both Rose and Dave seem satisfied with whatever weird Christmas ritual they’ve both just completed. Is this the kind of thing they do for each other every year?

Rose moves calmly on to Jade’s present for her, a black skirt with cute little cat faces embroidered into it with white thread. Jade proudly announces that it was homemade, and Rose promises to try it on after they’re all done with presents. You’re a bit nervous about how she’ll feel about your gift after two handmade ones in a row, but she seems pleased with the nice set of lipsticks you got her. 

It’s your turn next and you’re getting pretty pumped. You already know that your present from your dad was helping get all your friends here to spend the holiday with you, and honestly, that was more than enough of a Christmas gift for you. But it looks like everyone got you presents regardless, and you eagerly unwrap them. 

Rose knitted you a long and dramatic blue scarf that you bet is going to look cool as hell blowing in the winter wind. You spend a minute running your hand over her work--every stitch is impressively neat and even, the yarn soft as hell when you rub your thumb against it. Jade got you a beautiful pressed flower--it’s blue with little veins of bright yellow, intricate and well-preserved and definitely not a species you have ever seen in your life. She says she found it on her island and thought of you immediately. It’s definitely going on your wall as soon as you can find the best way to frame it. 

There’s no wrapped box from Dave, but after you finish ogling at Rose and Jade’s gifts, you feel your phone buzz in your pocket. You open your Pesterchum to see a photo from Dave. It’s a drawing, just like Jade’s, but a little bit more detailed. It’s nothing like his SBaHJ style, a way more realistic rendition of the two of you “being bros” as the blocky title reads. It’s of the two of you grinning like doofuses with your arms slung around each other. The proportions are a little bit wonky, and you think he exaggerated the size of your glasses a bit too much, but you love it so so much. 

You try to explain to everyone how much you love their presents, how much you love  _ them,  _ but it kind of comes out like a disastrous avalanche of sappiness and sentimentality that you quickly cut off before you can embarrass yourself any further. It’s fine, though, you can tell that everyone understands what you’re trying to say.

The four of you don’t move from where you’re seated around the tree, just fiddle with your new presents and shoot the shit about everything and nothing. Your dad squeezes your shoulder before he leaves to go back to the kitchen, and you flash him the brightest grin you can. This is probably the coolest thing he’s ever done for you, and that’s a pretty high honor for a dad as awesome as yours. 

Things feel just as dream-like as when everyone first got here. So happy and  _ good  _ that you almost feel like you’re stuck in a vivid, too-amazing sequence of your own subconscious imagination. But you pinch your arm a little bit and remind yourself that this is  _ real.  _ Your best friends are here, right in front of you. You’re all taking stupid, goofy photos of and with each other, then finally crowding in for one nice group photo. 

Maybe you’re being too sentimental. But when you look at all of your friends, smiling and laughing and all together with you, you feel like one of the luckiest people alive. 

**Author's Note:**

> This is the kind of story I've always wanted to write--when I was 16, most of my friends were long distance or online, so in many ways the core of this story is my love for all of my friends far away, those I've gotten to meet in person and those I haven't. A lot of little details were based off of real experiences I had meeting dear friends in real life for the first time. (And of course, I couldn't resist taking some inspiration from Jade's good ending in Pesterquest) Writing this was a genuine joy!  
> Happy Holidays and thank you so much for reading!


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